Landscape rake, tine measurement?

[teg]

I have a 6' rear blade that I don't use and was going to try and turn it into a 7' Landscape Rake. Just bolt angle iron where the reversible blade goes. It will be pretty heavy, is that a good thing or should I make it lighter???

I would also like to hear what people think is the "ideal" spacing between tines. It sounds like some think the normal 1.5" is a bit tight. Since tines are 1" wide, I was thinking about using 2, 2.5 or 3" space between tines. I only want to drill once so does anyone have an opinion?

 

[GuglioLS]

Dan,

Surprising no one responded to your post. As far as weight goes, I am of the opinion the more the merrier. Rake tines are very springy and tougher than you might think, so the heavy weight you say you have will allow them to dig in and scratch up the surface more effectively. Your tine spacing question is a good one with many possible answers. I suppose you should decide what the primary use of the rake will be. Do you want to just break up the ground for planting / smoothing?, or sort out topsoil from rocks and sticks? If just breaking up the ground, then a wider spacing will work well as there will be more weight per tine to dig in. If you want to separate out rocks and sticks, then keep the spacing closer. The tines on my home made rake are bolted on 2" centers, since they are 1" wide tines that leaves a 1" gap between tines. That spacing seems to be effective for my soil conditions and my intention to rake out rocks 1" + in size. If you were to have a 1.25", 1.5" 1.75", or even a 2.0" gap between tines, obviously larger rocks, debris and other foreign objects will pass through the spaces. I do believe even with a wider gap the tines would still be very effective at breaking up and aerating the soil. But certainly leave larger objects behind. Hope that little bit of info helps you decide what is best for you.

When are we going to see your handy work transforming your blade into a rake? Sounds like a good project, and I look forward to it.

Larry

 

[bob_wood]

My York rake has 1 inch spacing between tines. I have had this rake for about 20 years and its been the most used attachment I have. I think a 1" spacing pattern is good for all 'round use but , as Larry said, it depends on what you are trying to rake out. Maybe Now is the time for someone to come up with a rake with variable tine spaceing My rake has a " drop down " blade and that too has been a great feature. I think the extra weight on the tines will be a plus, especially if you go with the 1" spacing.

Bob

 

[CFHartman]

It's a lot esier to remove a tine when a larger gap is needed than add a tine after it has been bult when a smaller gap is needed.
Charlie

 

[teg]

Thanks for the replies... I wondered if anyone was going to reply I guess without photos, noone looked at the post So, I've attached a few photos. I'm done with the first set of holes and really wonder if a second hole is really needed .

I got a rear blade when I bought a spike aerator for $60, didn't want it but it was part of the deal. I've always wanted a landscape rake but had not seen them used at reasonable prices. To be honest, I'm not really sure what I'm going to be using it for... just another implement .

I went with 3.5" on center which gave me 2.5" between the tines. I didn't want to drill a lot of holes and basically just pick the number out of a hat. I used 25 tines and the rake length is 86". I'll let you know how it does when I try it out If it doesn't work, I will have learned the hard way... as usual.

I had removed the blade from the 3ph assembly, 4 bolts. The weight of the blade was 125# so I removed the 45# cutting edge. The angle iron I added is 0.4" thick and is 90# and the tines are 55# so I hope weight is a good thing since it's 225#. I have $100 invested in it... and a whole lot of time drilling... which is what I need to get back to Thanks again for the replies...

 

[GuglioLS]

Good start Dan,
OK I have a dumb? question - I think I see that you have two hole tines, but are only drilling out and bolting one hole. How are you going to keep the tines from rotating out of position? Or is that a "feature" you desire?

Larry

 

[teg]

Actually, I was in the middle of working on it. I finished the first row of holes and just put the tines on to see how it looked. I tighten up the bolts and thought about not drilling the other hole . I decided to sleep on it... since I also wondered about what would happen if I rotated the blade/rake at an angle to wind row... If I pull it staight, the tines should move and close up the gap between the tines. Right now, I'm leaning towards testing it out with just the single hole and see how it works. Not looking forward to drilling the other 25 holes... I've drilled through 10" of metal so far

Anyone else out there with single hole tines? Do they move or can you tighten them where they don't move? (I could have save an extra $25 going with single hole tine )

Just thought of one more thing... I hope I have room to spin 86" around

 

[teg]

Update: It's a wee-bit tight trying to spin it around (the outside tines drag). I may remove the last tine if it becomes a problem. I ended up drilling the second set of holes for the tines and the rake is very tight (and heavy!!). I like the 2.5" space so far but didn't have a whole lot of play time with it... I have some vines to rip out and I'll let you know how it works.

 

[Gizmo2]

My rake had 1" spacing, I removed very other tine. I like it. I also have spares now for when I back into a tree or the like and break the tines. Of course I've never done that.

 

[EddieWalker]

My rake has one inch between my tines and I think it's too tight. I rake up allot of branches on my place and at that spacing, I tend to jam them in between the tines. I've broke two tines and have considered removing others to give me more gap. Taking the branches out of the tines is a major delay because I have to get off the tractor and work them out each time it happens.

Eddie